Five Minutes
by MyRedStilettosAndMySwitchblade
Summary: They made it through near death, and now, they have to face her parents, and what others think of their relationship. can they make it through?
1. Chapter 1

FIVE MINUTES- Alternate Ending to American History X

(Instead of Danny getting killed, he gets shot in the shoulder trying to protect a girl he's got a crush on, who happened to run into the wrong bathroom, while trying to get away from Danny, after an argument in their history class, got extremely heated.)

"_**You have five minutes Vinyard. To explain exactly why I should give you a chance. Starting now." **_The girl said, as she tapped her foot impatiently on the concrete floor of the American History X classroom. Vanessa, or Van as most of her friends called her, wasn't big on patience, and was known through out the school as "The one with the temper.. And the wicked right hook." and so far Danny Vinyard had succeeded in doing nothing more than sticking his foot into his mouth each time they were in the same room. Sighing, he shrugged and said, "Cause I'm not the same guy I was at the start of term. Cause you owe it to yourself.. And last but not least, Vanessa Rivera, I happen to be the "skin headed dick" who's fucked up.. And fallen for you." Vanessa glared at him, and if looks could kill, Danny Vinyard would be on his way to the ninth ring of hell right now. "USing my own words against me, huh?" Van said as she continued to glare, making her golden brown eyes shimmer in the flourescent lighting of the classroom.

Their mentor sat shaking his head. These two did this. At least twice a month. Then Danny would back off, lapse back into his "beliefs", and Van would be left in peace. But for the last two months solid, since Danny had publicly denounced Cameron and his white supremacist lifestyle, Danny had been after Vanessa Rivera nonstop. Sighing, the teacher watched silently with his arms folded, ready to step in if it got heated like it had two days ago, when Vanessa had sent a right hook to Vinyard's gut and ran out of the class.

Danny watched her intently. He'd used her own hateful words against her. Had he been the old Daniel Vinyard, he'd have denounced her a "basket weaver" or something like that and told her to swim her ass back to Cuba. But from the moment he met her at the start of the year, he hadn't been able to shake her, even though at the time, he'd been in deep shit many times with Cameron and his other friends, because of his intense feelings for Van. "Look, Van, just do it. Please? Life's short. We might not have a tomorrow." As he said this, his mind flashed back to the confrontation with one of the meanest guys he'd met in his life. He'd crossed the guy, and the guy would get his revenge. It was just a matter of when and how badly.

"Still not hearing anything I give a damn about .. And you're now down to three minutes!" Van said, still glaring. It wasn't that she didn't like Danny, it's just that her home life wasn't the kind of life you'd go inviting someone into. They'd kill him and more importantly her, if she bought him home. And Van was the first person to tell you she got enough drunken late night beatings from whatever boyfriend her mom happened to drag home that night, that she strongly believed in self preservation. She herself loved him, even though all he did was get under her skin and piss her off. She looked at her watch, hell bent on not giving in, but with each passing second, her will grew.. WEAKER.. She sighed, internally, and continued to give off her typical "I don't give a damn about you" attitude, hoping that like times previous, he'd just give up and sit down. But for some reason, today he seemed adamant about her giving him a chance to "prove himself." She had no doubts that he would either way her decision went.

Danny watched Van. He knew she couldn't hold out much longer. He also knew that she was simply put, the most STUBBORN chick in California. He'd complained about this fact a million times over the space of a few months to his older brother Derrick, who'd encouraged him not to give up. He'd explained it as, "Girls, man, girls just have to know that you'll be there, no matter what. Especially Van." He never actually clarified what he meant by that, but Danny'd put two and two together, all the mysterious "injuries" that would seemingly fall upon Van that she'd try to hide. Each time he thought of whoever it was doing these things to her, he'd get angrier and angrier, and he'd resolve to keep on with her, until she gave in. Or got so mad she cracked and at least told someone what went on in her home.

Vanessa continued to stare. Finally she heard something she couldn't argue with. He blurted out her BIGGEST SECRET and used it against her. Hearing from someone else what she had to go through at home, well it brought on a rush of emotions she wasn't equipped to deal with. Vanessa was the type of girl who pushed down her anger and fear and hatred, seething in it, until it consumed her. Then she'd explode, beat the shit out of someone, and be done with it. Until the next time. But lately, she'd had a harder time diffusing. She blamed Danny, and her growing attraction to him for this. Cursing loudly, she shoved past him and ran, after screaming **"WHAT PART OF NO DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?"**

She tore out of the classroom, as if she were on fire. She didn't stop running until she'd found a bathroom. She ran in and ran straight into the guy who'd been gunning for danny as well as her older brother Marco, who was in prison with his older brother D-Boy. Looking up at the six one dark skinned boy, she crawled frantically backwards toward the wall as her heart raced in fear. She had no farther to crawl, she was backed firmly into a corner.

Danny came skidding in, having chased her down the hall. She looked at him, her eyes frozen in fear and tried to get him to leave, because she'd just seen the gun in the guy's pocket, and knew he'd meant to kill Danny at some point. She begged with her eyes, but Danny didn't get it. He stood there. The guy whirled around and in seeing danny, he smiled a sickening smile. Van's heart sank, as she realized that the guy was now aiming the gun.. At Danny's head. Then as if he was in a daze, he turned back to Van and snatched her up off the lineloeum floor. He held the gun to her head instead, and cocked the safety off. Van gulped and paled, begging with Danny to just run, get the hell out of here.

Danny froze in terror when the guy hauled Van off the floor. He looked from the guy with the gun to Vanessa. Danny had never been a really bright boy when it came to what response one should have in certain situation. So when Van begged him to run and save himself, he did what he thought felt right. Instead of running, he glared at the guy coldly and said "you're such a man, take me. Shoot me and not her." The guy smiled and shrugging said "you asked for it Vinyard."

Shots rang out through the hall. One Two.. BOOM BOOM. Danny slumped to the ground, the guy hauled ass out of sight and Van, crawled over to Danny, blood now oozing from him, and cradled his head in her lap screaming. When the blood hit her leg and hand she screamed louder, cursing, anything she felt would get people into the room faster.

Remembering her training one summer as a lifeguard, she frantically tried to keep him breathing, as she checked his pulse, and held onto the wound which gushed more and more blood by the minute. Finally his brother Derek arrived along with the teacher and the EMT's. Van told them all what had happened and what he'd done to save her, as she continued to hold Danny's head in her lap. As they loaded him on the stretcher, she sighed and leaned down whispering into his ear, "Yeah, alright. I can't turn down a guy who'll stop a fucking bullet with his body for me now can I?"

This was the last thing Danny heard before he blacked out from the blood loss. But when he woke up, there she was sitting there. After months of healing and therapy and surguries all of which Van was there for, Danny Vinyard finally got his chance. He had to take Vanessa Rivera to their senior prom.


	2. Chapter 2

Vanessa paced nervously. Danny would be here in about ten seconds, and she was a walking ball of nerves. Every since the bullet he'd taken for her, they'd been pretty much inseperable. But then again, if someone almost dies for you, then you do sort of owe it to yourself to get to know them, right?

The fighting started right as he made his way up the street, wearing a tux and carrying his skateboard. Van's own parents had no idea that she was even going to prom, much less with Danny, a former Skinhead. And the fact that he was once what he was, and that her parents, (namely her father), were downstairs drinking and fighting, had her wary now, of letting him come here to pick her up.

But, he'd insisted, and true to his habits, he'd eventually worn her down. Making a snap decision, she climbed out onto the roof next to her room, and lifting the vintage dress she was wearing, she threw her heels down into the yard, then shimmied down the drain pipe.

Danny heard shouting, then he looked up to find Vanessa sneaking out. Her father must have seen the heel, because before he could do anything, Vanessa was being snatched up and dragged back up the sidewalk while her father, who was obvously drunk off his ass at the moment, swore at her in Spanish.

From some of his older brother's time in prison, and some of his brother's Spanish friends from the roofing crew he'd went to work with, Danny could make out a few of the words and his anger rose.

Being a little bit of a hothead, and protective of Vanessa, he finally realized just why she kept putting him off about her bringing him home, meeting her parents. The bruises, her flinching it all made sense now.

Before he could stop himself, he'd caught up to her father and he'd tapped him.

"Hey padre! Why don't you hit me? Since you want to hit someone." Danny suggested as the angry man turned, swore at him and lunged, while shouting something at Vanessa in broken Spanish about having a Skinhead in his house, then accusing her of sneaking him in at night or something.

Vanessa looked down at her feet a moment, biting her lip, but when her father went to choke Danny, she jumped on his back, screaming at him, crying, trying to get him to stop fighting, trying to explain to him that Danny wasn't a Skinhead anymore.

Her mother glared and spat angrily, "You are dead to me. Not my daughter. This not good Spanish boy. He trashy white one!"

Vanessa glared at them both and helping Danny off the ground she said quietly, " Fine. I'm leaving. And I'm not coming back here, ever. Mami, Papi, he loves me, and he took a bullet .. for me. Remember how that boy came for me, to get even with our familia? This is the boy who got shot instead. And I don't care if he's purple or pink, I love him."

Danny blinked. He'd had no problem telling her how much he loved her, all the time, and he did so often. Not once had she said it back. He was beginning to wonder if she did have feelings for him, because she was so complex to read a lot of the time. But she'd just blurted it out, she'd just stopped her father from trying to choke him.

Her father grabbed her, dragging her up the stairs, whipping her with a belt as he shoved her into her room. Then he glared at Danny and spat "Off my lawn nasty white boy."

Danny skated down the street and stopped at the stop sign. Knowing what went on in her house now, he couldn't just leave her there. Not with every word she'd just said ringing in his ears.

He'd turned around, was about to go down the street to a payphone and call his older brother, but soft hands covered his eyes.

When he turned around, he saw her standing there in her dress, her face red, a handprint across her right cheek, with a bookbag slung carelessly over her shoulder.

Vanessa leaned in to kiss him and then said quietly, " Back there. I meant it, Danny. I love you. Even when you make me so mad I want to kick you. And it's not just because you saved my life. I loved you before that.. My parents, their really old school about things... "

Danny nodded and then said quietly, " I don't think you should go back there tonight, your dad was pretty pissed just now." as he bit his lip, fixed intent eyes on her reddened face, wincing.

" We go to the prom, and after, I figure something out. I don't want to go back. I know this might sound childish, but I'm not giving you up because he doesn't like it." Vanessa said quietly as the two of them headed towards the high school, holding hands, Danny having taken her bag, slung it over his shoulder.

As they walked into the gym, he caught his brother, who was chaperoning, and took him off to the side.

" Man, you gotta cover for me.. This is for a good cause, Derrick, trust me." Danny said as his brother studied him intently, then his eyes caught on Vanessa's face.

" You two don't run away.. Bring her home tonight, I'll cover for you with Mom and Davinia if she asks."

Danny nodded and said " She wants to leave that house."

" I know. Let me make some calls, and see if I can do anything, Danny. Now, stop worrying and go dance." Derrick said as he shoved his brother towards Vanessa who he smiled, let pull him out onto the floor, even though he grumbled about his tie, the music played and the whole idea of prom in general.

But when the slow song started, and her head found his chest, he smiled and pulled her closer as he muttered, " You look so hot tonight. Really, you're the most beautiful girl on the planet."

" Am not. I still say that that bullet affected your eyesight also." Vanessa muttered as she slid her arms up, around his neck. Neither one of them knew what lie ahead after tonight, but tonight just felt like the beginning. It wouldn't always be easy, not by a long shot, but they both just felt that they could stand up to whatever came at them, as they had a few weeks ago when Danny took the bullet for her, and then tonight, when she'd stood up to her parents, and taken the beating, for him.

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**( Eeee! I love all the feedback! I wasn't ever going to go beyond a one shot, but I had to write this chapter when I got the muse for it ! I'm so glad you guys all loved the story!)**


	3. Chapter 3

"NO! DON'T SHOOT HIM, PAPI, PLEASE!" Van screamed at the top of her lungs as she shot up in the bed, Danny waking up not too far behind her, rubbing his eyes as he asked gruffly, "Van?"

She slid out of bed, stood, rubbing her arms as she paced and bit her lip. She'd been having a nightmare, she'd dreamt that earlier, when her father and Danny got into it in her front yard, before he'd shown up to take her to prom, only this time, her father grabbed a gun and before she realized what'd happened, he'd pulled the trigger, aiming at Danny's head.

Of course, her papi had been threatening to shoot him in their native tongue earlier when she'd went back home after prom and gotten almost all of her stuff, with Derek and Danny. He accused her of being pregnant – though she wasn't, and he called her trash now, because she was with a no good white boy skinhead..

"Van, babe.. You okay?"

"Danny, I should go back home.. I'm scared that he's gonna.." Van started as Danny shook his head, leaned in, pulled her into a kiss as he said quickly, "No. Hey, Van, if you're worried about me, babe.. Don't worry about me. He's not gonna hurt me, and he's not gonna hurt you anymore either."

She groaned as his lips trailed slowly down her neck and leaning against him, she forced him to stop as she said calmly, "Danny, this is serious. I'm scared right now.. What if he DOES hurt you? And it's my fault?"

"Babe, he's not.. Derek is gonna talk to the cops in the morning, and my mom.. She's got every gun in the house within reach, since he made that threat." Danny explained patiently to his petite Latina girlfriend as he leaned in and pulled her into another kiss, his hands resting on her hips as he rested his forehead against hers and added, "And anyway, you.. I'm not giving you up, Van.. I love you... Hell, if not for you and Derek, I'd still be the same douchebag skinhead guy who made your life hell before I realized how much I loved you."

Van sighed heavily and then resting her cheek against his neck, she said quietly, "You didn't do anything more to me than I did to you, Danny. And you saved me too."

"We're gonna be okay, Van, relax. This is all going to be okay. Derek's a smart guy, he'll find some way for us to be together without all of this unnecessary bullshit." Danny said as he looked at her, her father's words ringing in his ears, his imagination running wild.

He thought Vanessa was pregnant, that's why she was leaving with Danny and his older brother. He'd slapped Van around right in front of them, called her all sorts of cruel and dirty names. Never had Danny been that angry in his life, but if he could have killed her father earlier he honestly would have, without so much as a second thought.

He quickly got any and all futuresque thoughts out of his mind, although, seeing her playing with his youngest sister earlier had been a huge eye opener as far as future was concerned..

"You're right. He'll figure something out.. How's your eye, te amo?"

"It's okay, Van." he muttered as his lips lazily danced across the back of her neck.

They lie there in the dark, wondering what life held in store for them next, Danny holding her against him, one arm behind his head, the other arm behind her back, his hand on her narrow hipbone.

"Love you, Van."

"Love you too, Danny. We need to sleep."

"We do, but I wanna make sure you're not gonna have another nightmare on me, babe." Danny said calmly as Van gave a slight giggle and said "If you keep running your hand through my hair, Danny.. I'll be back asleep in no time.. You know I like that."

The pair finally fell asleep and Vanessa lapsed into a dreamless, peaceful sleep for once, no fear or worries, the nightmare from an hour or so before forgotten for the moment, in his arms.


End file.
